Sermon - Judica 2021 - John 8:42-59

In the Old Testament sacrificial system at the temple, God’s people were kept distant from Him. Old Testament worship centered around the temple. But now in the New Testament era, God’s Word and God’s house have been opened to us through the sacrificial death of Jesus. 

The Old Testament temple consisted of three distinct areas: the courtyard, the holy place, and the holy of holies. Anyone and everyone could enter into the courtyard, Jew and non-Jew alike. But the holy place was only accessible to the priests in the lineage of Aaron. “The priests go regularly into this section, performing their ritual duties.” Daily the priests would offer various sacrifices for the people. Into the holy of holies however, “only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.” Inside of the holy of holies was the ark of the covenant which carried Aaron’s staff, the two tablets of the law, and manna from the wilderness.

Between the holy place and the holy of holies there was a thick curtain dividing the two places so that not even the priests could enter into the holiest place or see inside. Thus, no man was permitted near God, since there was a literal physical barrier between God and man. Moreover, the sacrifices offered up by the priests didn’t actually atone for man, “but dealt only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.” All of the blood of beasts on Jewish altars did not forgive even one of man’s sins. Man was not brought closer to God through the Old Testament sacrificial system.

There is only one sacrifice appointed for the redemption of man’s sin: Jesus’ crucifixion. “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Jesus Christ is the only sacrifice who atones for our sins and bridges the chasm between God and man.

Like the ram caught in the thicket, Jesus is the Lamb God has provided for the offering. Like Isaac, Jesus is the only-begotten beloved Son of the Father, and like Isaac Jesus offered up His own life to be the sacrifice. But unlike Isaac, Jesus was sacrificed, His flesh was pierced, His blood was shed, His life did end. Jesus is the substitute for us and even just one drop of His blood could’ve atoned for the sins of all the world, and yet He shed it all for us! From His wounds we are all healed and we are brought near to God.

At the death of Jesus, when He breathed His last and declared it to be finished, behold, the sun’s light failed, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Jesus’ death was so powerful, that even the graves could no longer hold the dead! “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”

Jesus’ death was the sacrifice that atoned for the sins of the world. No longer does God hold man at arm’s length, for Christ has paid the guilt of our sins. The curtain in the temple was in two from top to bottom, meaning that the holy place was now opened to all! The tomb is burst open so that not even death can separate us from God! No longer are we locked out of God’s home, but it’s open to us!

The holy priesthood is not just those particular men of Israel chosen from the tribe of Levi, but all Christians are members of the new testament priesthood. As St. Peter teaches us: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” All of us have been sanctified and called into God’s house, all of us gather here to offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. Among us, Christ is the great high priest. He entered into the holy of holies and opened it to us all.

Here now instead of a closed ark hid inside of the holy of holies where no one can see, all is revealed to us. We have the baptismal font open for all, we have the open pulpit from which God’s Word is heard, and we have the altar upon which the manna from heaven, Christ’s body and blood, are offered to the priesthood of all believers. No longer is God’s house closed to us, but it’s opened!

This New Testament temple is open to us Christians because of Christ. Within the old temple countless animals were slaughtered. But when the Jews tried to kill Jesus in the temple, picking up stones to throw at Him, “Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” He wasn’t sacrificed like every other lamb, but He was led out into the wilderness, led out to Golgotha where He was slaughtered by the Gentiles. Having been crucified out in the open, He paved the way for all of us to enter into God’s open house.

The greatest treasure of God’s open house is that His Word is made available to all. No longer are the tablets locked in the ark, but the book is open! “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Word of Jesus gives life to many! Though admittedly, here in this life, that’s perplexing. The Jews noticed the strange inconsistency: “Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’”

How is that though the faithful keep the Word of God, and aren’t supposed to die, they still die? Here it’s not what we see, but what we don’t see. What appears to be death, is actually just a slumber and a peaceful departure, like Simeon said. When faithful Christians die, they are taken out of our midst for a while, but then they will emerge again and after that live forever! We may not see the new life, we may only see death, but in faith we understand that the Christian death is transformed into a portal to bliss untold.

When Christ tore the temple curtain in two by His death, He made it so that we who hear and keep God’s word would live forever. Moreover, when the curtain was torn in two, all of God’s Word was opened to us and is clarified through Christ. Previously much of God’s Word was confusing because Christ hadn’t yet come. But now through Christ we see it all clearly! 

The sacrifice of Isaac, though appearing like a disturbing and bizarre account, is actually a beautiful picture which reveals Christ’s sacrifice for us. It foreshadowed the death of Jesus who would die as our substitute so that we may live. This passage, and many others in the Bible, are given full meaning through Jesus. Through Christ, all the scriptures are opened to us since they all direct our eyes to see Jesus and His blessed death for us.

Since God’s Word is given such a full meaning, Jesus directs us to keep His Word. We are to hear God’s Word with both ears open, to keep it and confess it and live according to it and cling unto it until the end. God’s Word, which has been opened to us, will contend for us so that even in the very midst of death, we may press onward toward the goal of everlasting life with the Father.